WEST TISBURY – The president is on the island. Let the vacation begin!

After a quick stop at Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod around 3:30 p.m. today, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama hopped on a helicopter and headed off to Martha's Vineyard.

Minutes later, they touched down at Martha's Vineyard Airport, and with first pooch, Bo, in tow, the Obamas zoomed up-island in a motorcade, passing well-wishers, gawkers and even someone dressed in a polar bear costume protesting a pipeline.

About 50 people gathered in front of Alley's General Store in West Tisbury to see the fast-moving motorcade spectacle, shortly after 4 p.m. For some, it was a chance encounter with history, or at least something to tell the folks back home.

Just like the Obamas, the Larosa family of Cherry Hill, N.J. was settling into day one of their vacation. They arrived at their West Tisbury vacation home around 3 p.m., not knowing that about an hour later the president and his wife would race by their rental house.

“Talk about being at the right place at the right time,” said mom Jen Larosa. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime (experience).”

The family of six sat in director's chairs on their lawn and watched the motorcade in style. “I saw Mrs. Obama in one of the cars. She waved to everybody,” chimed in an ebullient Ryan Larosa, 12. “It was the coolest thing I've ever seen.”

The presidential motorcade also made for a peachy grand finale to a peach festival at the First Congregational Church of West Tisbury. People who had been eating cobblers and pies and other goodies jumped out of their seats and started waving at the passing SUVs.

Odete Armstrong of Rochester, said she caught a glimpse of President Obama waving to the crowd. That was a thrill, but her 5-year-old grandson Brendan Foster was even more excited.

“That was part of the whole trip,” Armstrong said. “He just kept saying 'We're going to see the president, we're going to see the president', and we did.”

Watch video as the president and first lady arrive for vacation

President Obama's daughters Malia and Sasha did not travel with their parents, according to a White House spokesman. He would not say when the pair would reunite with their parents to begin a week of rest and relaxation at the family's 5,000-square-foot vacation rental on Snail Road in Chilmark.

This is Obama's fourth Vineyard vacation as president and if the family's past trips are an indicator, it is likely they will hit a bookstore, eat out a few times, go swimming and hang out with family and friends. Also, it seems almost a lock that the president will be golfing on the island, perhaps several times at different courses.

The president and first lady flew into Air Station Cape Cod from Orlando, Fla., where earlier in the day he spoke at the Disabled American Veterans national convention.

After arriving at Joint Base Cape Cod, the Obamas briefly shook hands with U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Mass., Col. Virginia Doonan of the Air National Guard at Joint Base Cape Cod, Col. Patrick Cobb, of the Air National Guard 102nd Intelligence Wing, Col. Gregory McDonald, of the National Guard Army Guard Camp Edwards, Cmdr. David Ehlers of the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod and Lt. Col. Zigmund Jackim, U.S. Air Force 6th Space Warning Squadron who were lined up on the tarmac. The Obamas then hopped into the Marine One helicopter bound for the Vineyard.

White House staff helped guide Bo off the plane and another carried two mesh bags of basketballs, which also made the island trip by helicopter.

Cape Cod Times reporter Abby Eisenberg contributed to this story. Pool and wire material were also used.

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CHILMARK - President and Mrs. Obama arrived on Martha's Vineyard at about 3:50 p.m. aboard the presidential helicopter, Marine One, and got into a black car, according to a pool report from Sara Brown of the Vineyard Gazette.

Two white mesh bags full of basketballs were unloaded from one of the Osprey helicopters that accompanied Marine One, which also carried first dog, Bo. The pooch waited patiently on the tarmac with a handler as the helicopter was unloaded.

At 4 p.m. the roughly 20-car motorcade headed up-island, passing bystanders waving and taking pictures on Edgartown-West Tisbury Road and a crowd of about 50 waiting outside Alley's General Store. One of the signs in the crowd said: "Sasha and Malia 2016."

According to two Cape Cod Times reporters who have covered past Obama family vacations on the Vineyard, the crowd at the general store was smaller than in years past, but those who were on hand were not lacking in enthusiasm.

The presidential motorcade surprised a group of the people at a peach festival down the street at The First Congregational Church of West Tisbury. People who had been eating peach cobbler and other peach goodies jumped out of their seats and started waving at the passing cars.

Other small groups of people stood along the road to Chilmark to greet the president and his wife, according to a pool report from Jackie Calmes of The New York Times.

Sasha and Malia, the president's daughters, did not travel to the Vineyard with their parents and apparently have not arrived on the island, Calmes reports. No information is available about when the Obama daughters will arrive.

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COAST GUARD AIR STATION CAPE COD – President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, arrived at Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod in Sandwich at about 3:24 this afternoon and quickly boarded a helicopter to Martha's Vineyard.

The president and first lady got off Air Force One and shook hands with Col. Virginia Doonan of the Air National Guard at Joint Base Cape Cod, Col. Patrick Cobb, of the Air National Guard 102nd Intelligence Wing, Col. Gregory McDonald, of the National Guard Army Guard Camp Edwards, Cmdr. David Ehlers of the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Lt. Col. Zigmund Jackim, U.S. Air Force 6th Space Warning Squadron and U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Mass., who were lined up on the tarmac.

The first couple then walked across the tarmac hand in hand and got into a helicopter. The president's daughters were not on Air Force One when it landed at the air station.

Obama was wearing khakis and a blue button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Mrs. Obama was wearing a white, sleeveless dress with a yellow floral pattern and gold metallic flats.

The helicopter took off from Cape Cod just before 3:40 p.m.

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

and STAFF REPORTS

President Barack Obama and his family are headed to Cape Cod after giving a speech at the Disabled American Veterans' convention in Orlando, Fla., this morning. Obama's wife, Michelle, attended the convention together.

Obama told the group his administration is making progress on reducing a backlog of disability claims and said the number of requests for assistance has fallen by nearly one-fifth since peaking at more than 600,000 just a few months ago.

He also announced a new national plan to guide mental health research, as well as commitments from 250 community colleges and universities to help veterans earn college degrees or get the credentials they need to find jobs.

A top concern for veterans is the backlog of disability claims for compensation for illness and injury caused by military service.

"After years of military service, you shouldn't have to wait years for the benefits you've earned," Obama said.

The number of claims ballooned after Obama made it easier for Vietnam veterans who were exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange to get benefits. Access to benefits also was eased for sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder and Gulf War veterans afflicted with malaria, West Nile virus or other infectious diseases.

The backlog is shrinking due to some aggressive steps taken by the Department of Veterans Affairs, including requiring claims processors in its 56 regional benefits offices to work overtime and moving from a manual to a computerized system to help speed the judgment of claims, administration officials said.

About 780,000 claims are pending. About 496,000 are considered backlogged after the 20 percent reduction Obama highlighted, down from 611,000 at the end of March, said White House press secretary Jay Carney. A claim is considered backlogged if it has been in the system for 125 days, or roughly four months.

Even with that progress, Obama acknowledged the amount of work still needed to eliminate the backup by 2015 as VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has promised.

"Today I can report that we are not where we need to be, but we are making progress," Obama said. "So after years when the backlog kept growing, finally the backlog is shrinking."

The president also announced the release of a comprehensive national plan to improve the ability to prevent, diagnose and treat PTSD and traumatic brain injuries and mental health issues earlier and better, and to reduce suicides, according to a briefing paper the White House released Saturday before the president spoke.

Beyond the claims issue, Republican lawmakers have started to hammer the VA on the issue of patient safety.

A congressional hearing in Atlanta this past week focused on poor patient care linked to four deaths. Another hearing is scheduled for next month in Pittsburgh, where five veterans died as a result of a Legionnaire's disease outbreak in 2011-12.

Several dozen protesters greeted Obama as he arrived at the hotel. Some held signs that said "Kenyan Go Home," ''Impeach Obama," and "Obama Lies."

Obama met privately with DAV members before the speech, the White House said. Afterward, he headed to Martha's Vineyard for a family vacation.

Air Force One is expected to arrive at about 3:30 p.m. at Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod in Sandwich. The family will then fly by helicopter to Martha's Vineyard.